11 August 2008

Life-changing books

El País recently surveyed 100 Spanish-language authors about the top ten books that changed their lives. (Here is a PDF of the complete list of the authors and their choices.)

A few interesting bits:
  • The top five authors turned out to be (from one to five) Cervantes, Proust, Homer, and Kafka (in both fourth and fifth place).
  • Jorge Luis Borges is number one of the Latin American authors mentioned.
  • Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov is number one on Horacio Castellanos Moya's list.
  • Alberto Manguel's first pick was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  • Javier Marías placed both Richard III and Macbeth at the top of his list.
  • Proust's In Search of Lost Time was at the top of Antonio Muñoz Molina's list.
  • Iván Thays has Ana Karenina at the top, with Pale Fire a close second.
  • Enrique Vila-Matas' number one is Kafka's Diaries.
(With thanks to A.)

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